Yahoo! News: World News

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• Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary
• Elegant Damascus, besieged by both sides
• Low-key departure as pope steps down and hides away
• China likely to appoint expert on North Korea, Japan as foreign minister
• Mexican union boss arrest sounds warning to reform foes
• U.N. Security Council asks for report on possible Mali peacekeepers
• India's reformist finance minister faces budget moment of truth
• Plan floated at U.N. to lift Somalia arms embargo for a year
• Slovenia mandates new PM to halt dramatic decline
• Italy president snubs German candidate over clown gaffe
• Algerian in Jihad Jane plot faces US extradition
• Pope legacy: Teacher who returned to church roots
• Pope recalls 'joy,' difficulties in final audience
• AP INTERVIEW: Iraq PM warns Syria war could spread
• Tweets allow peek at life in NKorea in real time
• Pistorius representatives name substance found
• Mexico plays hardball in jailing of union boss
• US, Europe move to expand role in Syrian conflict
• World powers coax Iran into saving nuclear talks
• Loved ones salute New Zealand dad killed by shark
• Bradley Manning to admit partial guilt in WikiLeaks case
• For Bulgarians, brief love affair with credit comes to bitter end
• Are Italian voters right that austerity isn't working?
• Pistorius tragedy, characters prove a never-ending soap opera in South Africa
• Logistics unhinge Peru's laptop dreams
• Israel wields Bible's soft power as far afield as Brazil
• Criminals cash in on Syria's chaos with kidnappings and ransoms
• Are the US and Russia bridging their divide over Syria?
• Can Kenya's March election avoid killings, catastrophe, of last national vote?
• Will Twitter make an impact in Kenya's elections next week?
• Taliban attacks in Afghanistan not down after all
• Sugar Man: Did the Oscar-winning documentary mislead viewers?
• Can Dennis Rodman's 'basketball diplomacy' make a difference in North Korea?

Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary Posted: 27 Feb 2013 11:39 AM PST ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions. Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first in eight months. ...

Elegant Damascus, besieged by both sides Posted: 27 Feb 2013 11:09 AM PST DAMASCUS (Reuters) - In a city lived in for seven millennia, it may take more than two years of civil war to put a full stop to the genteel round of dinner parties and walks in the park for the affluent folk of downtown Damascus. But from out in the grim suburbs, rebels incensed at their prosperous neighbors' passivity lob in more bombs and President Bashar al-Assad's forces make their presence ever more heavily felt around his stronghold, disrupting comfortable old routines and setting fear gnawing at Damascenes' cocoon of civilization. ...

Low-key departure as pope steps down and hides away Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:18 PM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage on Thursday after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world". In keeping with his shy and modest ways, there will be no public ceremony to mark the first papal resignation in six centuries and no solemn declaration ending his nearly eight-year reign at the head of the world's largest church. ...

China likely to appoint expert on North Korea, Japan as foreign minister Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:23 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - China is likely to appoint an expert on Japan and North Korea as its next foreign minister, three independent sources said, in a measure of Beijing's resolve to improve difficult relationships with two of its closest neighbors. Barring last-minute changes, Wang Yi, 59, China's ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007, was likely to be appointed foreign minister during the annual full session of parliament next month, the sources said. ...

Mexican union boss arrest sounds warning to reform foes Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:46 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The arrest of Mexico's best-known trade union leader on fraud charges has thrown down the gauntlet to powerful interests standing between President Enrique Pena Nieto and his plans to shake up Latin America's second-biggest economy. For a generation, even presidents shied away from taking on teachers' union boss Elba Esther Gordillo, making her Mexico's most prominent female politician and a formidable enemy to those who accused her of fostering corruption rather than education. ...

U.N. Security Council asks for report on possible Mali peacekeepers Posted: 27 Feb 2013 03:21 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will ask U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report by the end of March on the possibility of creating a peacekeeping force for Mali, French U.N. envoy Gerard Araud said on Wednesday. France began a military offensive last month to drive out Islamist fighters, who had hijacked a revolt by Mali's Tuareg rebels and seized two-thirds of the West African country. Paris said Mali's vast desert North was in danger of becoming a springboard for extremist attacks on the region and the West. ...

India's reformist finance minister faces budget moment of truth Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:33 PM PST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will present one of the most highly anticipated Indian budgets of recent years on Thursday, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centerpiece of India's efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade. The 2013/14 budget caps an intensive seven-month campaign by the energetic Chidambaram, who was appointed last August, to turn around the fortunes of Asia's third-largest economy after years of policy drift and global economic turmoil. ...

Plan floated at U.N. to lift Somalia arms embargo for a year Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:38 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A proposal to lift a U.N. arms embargo on the Somalian government for a year but leave in place restrictions on weapons like surface-to-air missiles has been floated among a deeply split 15-member U.N. Security Council, diplomats said on Wednesday. The Somali government has requested that the 21-year-old arms embargo be lifted so it can strengthen its poorly equipped, ill-disciplined military - more a group of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president - to battle al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels. A draft resolution to renew a U.N. ...

Slovenia mandates new PM to halt dramatic decline Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:24 PM PST LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia dismissed its conservative-led government on Wednesday and offered a center-left finance expert the task of halting the Alpine country's fall from post-communist star to euro zone bailout candidate. The 90-seat parliament voted 55-33 to dismiss Prime Minister Janez Jansa's ruling coalition after just a year of trying to navigate through the ex-Yugoslav republic's worst economic and political crisis in 22 years of independence. ...

Italy president snubs German candidate over clown gaffe Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:08 PM PST BERLIN (Reuters) - Italy's president cancelled a dinner with the German opposition's chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck in Berlin on Wednesday after he described the former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi and comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo as "clowns". Steinbrueck, a Social Democrat who will take on Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's next national election in September, has a reputation for gaffes and his remark created the first diplomatic incident of his accident-prone campaign. He said on Tuesday he was "appalled that two clowns have won" Italy's February 24-25 election. ...

Algerian in Jihad Jane plot faces US extradition Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:59 PM PST DUBLIN (AP) — An Algerian man wanted by U.S. authorities over the abortive "Jihad Jane" plot to assassinate a Swedish artist is expected to face extradition hearings in an Irish courthouse Wednesday after his surprise arrest .

Pope legacy: Teacher who returned to church roots Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:55 PM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — On Monday, April 4, 2005, a priest walked up to the Renaissance palazzo housing the Vatican's doctrine department and asked the doorman to call the official in charge: It was the first day of business after Pope John Paul II had died, and the cleric wanted to get back to work.

Pope recalls 'joy,' difficulties in final audience Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:40 PM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI bid an emotional farewell Wednesday on the eve of his retirement, recalling moments of "joy and light" during his papacy, but also times of difficulty when "it seemed like the Lord was sleeping."

AP INTERVIEW: Iraq PM warns Syria war could spread Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:39 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister warned Wednesday that a victory for rebels in the Syrian civil war would create a new extremist haven and destabilize the wider Middle East, sparking sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon.

Tweets allow peek at life in NKorea in real time Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:51 PM PST "Hello world from comms center in (hash)Pyongyang."

Pistorius representatives name substance found Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:56 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The substance found in Oscar Pistorius' bedroom after the shooting death of his girlfriend was identified by his representatives Wednesday as Testis compositum — an herbal remedy they said is used for "muscle recovery." A product by that name also is sold as a sexual enhancer.

Mexico plays hardball in jailing of union boss Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:27 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — The arrest of Mexico's most powerful union leader echoes the hardball tactics of Mexico's once-imperial presidency while pushing forward an education reform that Enrique Pena Nieto has made a centerpiece of his new administration.

US, Europe move to expand role in Syrian conflict Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:29 PM PST ROME (AP) — The United States and some European allies are edging closer to direct involvement in Syria's civil war with plans to deliver meals, medical kits and other forms of nonlethal assistance to the rebels battling President Bashar Assad.

World powers coax Iran into saving nuclear talks Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:56 PM PST ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — World powers offered broader concessions than ever to Iran in attempts Wednesday to keep alive diplomatic channels that seek to rein in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and prevent it from building an atomic weapon.

Loved ones salute New Zealand dad killed by shark Posted: 27 Feb 2013 03:43 PM PST WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — About 150 friends and family of Adam Strange wrote messages to him in the sand and stepped into the water Thursday at a New Zealand beach to say goodbye after he was killed Wednesday by a large shark.

Bradley Manning to admit partial guilt in WikiLeaks case Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:58 PM PST Army Pvt. Bradley Manning admitted in a court filing Tuesday to leaking at least some of the classified US military and State Department documents that made Julian Assange's Wikileaks a controversial sensation three years ago, in an apparent bid to get an opportunity to explain his motives.

For Bulgarians, brief love affair with credit comes to bitter end Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:18 PM PST When Dobromir Kyurkchiev purchased a new home in Sofia, he took out a 45,000 euro ($58,875), 25-year loan. A real estate broker himself, he was familiar with loans and made certain the contract provided a fixed rate. About five years later, though, his monthly payment unexpectedly jumped 20 percent.

Are Italian voters right that austerity isn't working? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:11 PM PST There was little doubt that austerity – and opposition to it – would play a major role in Italy's national elections, and play a role austerity did. The campaign yielded results well beyond expectations for both of the parties that campaigned heavily against austerity measures: Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement and Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom.

Pistorius tragedy, characters prove a never-ending soap opera in South Africa Posted: 27 Feb 2013 01:01 PM PST The Oscar Pistorius saga continues to zig and zag through South African Twitter feeds, townships, taxi driver chat, and posh suburban clubs like some monster rogue soap opera that no one can turn off.

Logistics unhinge Peru's laptop dreams Posted: 27 Feb 2013 12:46 PM PST When Peru decided to invest in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program in 2007, the government knew it couldn't afford to rush out and buy a laptop for every child all at once.

Israel wields Bible's soft power as far afield as Brazil Posted: 27 Feb 2013 12:04 PM PST On a crisp winter morning in Jerusalem, a group of American Christian leaders with Bibles under their arms walk the hilltop where many believe King David first established the Jewish capital some 3,000 years ago.

Criminals cash in on Syria's chaos with kidnappings and ransoms Posted: 27 Feb 2013 11:24 AM PST Alaa's uncle was a prominent figure in his community and although, as a matter of self-preservation, he has not advertised his political beliefs since Syria's uprising began, he was widely known as a friend of the opposition.

Are the US and Russia bridging their divide over Syria? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:21 AM PST After a surprisingly positive first meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Berlin Tuesday, Russian experts say they're hopeful that a real opportunity has opened up to pressure the Bashar al-Assad regime and Syria's fractured rebel movement to come to the bargaining table and discuss a negotiated end to the stalemated civil war that has killed around 70,000 people in the past two years.

Can Kenya's March election avoid killings, catastrophe, of last national vote? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 07:34 AM PST The most infamous of the many violent atrocities that followed Kenya's last election in 2007 came when 20 people perished in a church in the western village of Kiambaa, set aflame by mobs supporting a rival politician.

Will Twitter make an impact in Kenya's elections next week? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 07:34 AM PST Social media – tweets, tags, pokes, posts, uploads – were not part of Kenya's last election. So new media can't be blamed for the violence that dented Kenya's image of stability in 2007.

Taliban attacks in Afghanistan not down after all Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:40 AM PST Was the war in Afghanistan going better in 2012 than it was in 2011?

Sugar Man: Did the Oscar-winning documentary mislead viewers? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:00 AM PST With the world's gaze still trained on Oscar Pistorius – the Olympian runner who shot and killed his girlfriend on Valentines Day – it's been something of a rough news week for South Africa.

Can Dennis Rodman's 'basketball diplomacy' make a difference in North Korea? Posted: 27 Feb 2013 05:48 AM PST Dennis Rodman, famous for his rebounding on the court and his flamboyant, quirky persona off it, is not the typical cultural attache for the US. But that's the role he's playing this week in North Korea.

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